Anniston 15 July 2024 - Lego build day 2 and a visit from friends

Today is primarily a Lego Build Day

	Timestamp: 20240715_100835. Stickers are something that Robbie does not like.  Neither do I, so he has decided to only apply the essential visible stickers.  We start today by building the stand for the shuttle.
	Timestamp: 20240715_104211.  The stand is complete.  Time taken: 34 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_112614.  Now we have built the first part of the wing Time taken:  44 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_114718.  After a short break, we begin work on bag 6.
	Timestamp: 20240715_121002.  Bag 6 has completed the base frame for the shuttle, and we now have a good idea of its overall size.  Time taken:  23 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_131853. After a break for lunch, we are about to get underway again.
	Timestamp: 20240715_140251. Some of the wing has been filled in. In a later bag, the fixings of these blue plates would cause us a problem, and the removal of them and some re-work to re-position pieces under them would make the wing more solid. Time taken: 44 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_140755.  Bag 8 had been opened in error earlier than it should have been.  We had attempted to separate out the pieces correctly, but this bag really had us holding our breath.
	Timestamp: 20240715_143606.  Bag 8 was completed without incident. Time taken: 29 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_173555.  Time for bag 9 - with a dot under the number to distinguish it from bag 6.
	Timestamp: 20240715_175918.  The wings are now completed, but one side does not sit completely flat.  The reason for this is noted above. Time Taken: 20 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_184255. Now the engines have been added. Time Taken: 42 minutes
	Timestamp: 20240715_204129.  The rear infrastructure behind the cargo bay has been added.  The start picture is missing, but this bag was not too difficult, so I am going to estimate 30 minutes. Time Taken: 30 minutes (est)

Total time building the shuttle today is 266 minutes or 4 hours 26 minutes. 

Other things that happened today:

Two of Karen's teacher friends visited us.  It was good to meet them and to know that she has already made some good friends during her short time in her new school.  Karen had made scones, and we discussed cream teas a little.  Jam first, or cream?  The answer is here https://www.seriouseats.com/british-cream-tea-correct-order-5225936 part of which is repeated below:

Devonians lay claim to the first ever cream tea being served in Tavistock Abbey in the 11th century. Following Viking raids in the year 997, the Abbey was damaged and had to be restored. Fragments of manuscripts written by monks from this time, and discovered by local Devonian historians, tell us that the Earl of Devon, Ordulf, rewarded his workers with bread, clotted cream, and a strawberry preserve. At some point down the line, the bread was replaced with scones and the cream tea was realized. This, according to Devonians, was the original cream tea and was served cream first and then jam, and still is today—the right way, if you ask me. Devonians say the cream is like butter and forms the base of the scone “sandwich.” 

Which ever way you choose does not affect the taste, and all of us agreed the scones were very good.  Other English topics were covered a little, as was our general family history, but I'm not going to repeat those stories here!

There was also a little discussion of ex-president Trump, as he was shot yesterday.

Late Finish, Early Start

Most of Saturday was spent writing the script for the sermon for Sunday morning. From a blogging point of view that is not so interesting. In the evening however our activities are slightly more interesting. A friend of ours plays in a band, the band had been invited to play at Lower Kingswood Parish Church. The church is called 'Wisdom of God' - referring to Jesus, or course. What a superb name for a church.

The picture is of the church entrance, the event was in the hall across the road.

The band covered songs from the 50's to the 90's and the mix of instruments made a great sound. It's a shame that the singer's voices were not transmitted well by the sound system. Our friends who are missionaries in Tanzania were also there (they return in August - probably - but that's another story). So it made for a very enjoyable evening.
The band played two sets - 50 minutes and about 1 hour - very good value for money. We hope that the aims of the event were met - to get some of the local people into the church buildings, as a forerunner to some more serious outreach.

The journey back was a nightmare. The M25 went from 3 lanes to 1 just past junction 3. Before we got past the exit traffic came to a halt. After a while I set up the Sat-Nav to avoid motorways, and off we went - via the Blackwall tunnel. The diversion added 30 minutes to the trip. We had already left late - saying good bye after 11:15, and arrived home sometime around 1:30 am. Then up at 6:50 to prepare to the 8am service.

50th Party

We are all getting older, some of course are not as old as others, and some we have not seen for a very long time, so it was a great pleasure to receive an invitation marked "Top Secret". It was to a James Bond themed 50th Birthday Party. The poor guy who has now joined the half century club can be seen here along with some of those who attended the party. There was food and cake, but more importantly Bond theme dress, and a very clever quiz, with picture clues to the file titles, and for part 2 a list of female characters to fit to the bond films.

Mostly though it was wonderful to have a chance to catch up with a few of the friends that we have not seen for about 25 years, since we all got to a certain age, and went our separate ways. Sometimes to distant parts of the country.

So thanks for marking your fiftieth birthday Martin.

Leek Wootton

Yesterday we travelled to Leek Wooton in the afternoon, to attend the licensing and installation of one of my oldest (longest established) friends. It is very different from his previous church(es). This one is really three (also Ashow and Stoneleigh), it is rural, not in a large town, it has a primary school 'attached'. Being rural, it has graveyards, and bells.

The service was very interesting, and started late for us as the bishop and the others had visited the other two churches. It was good to see Jim and Nicola again, and we look forward to paying them a proper visit, as they have the house for it (apparently) and are in one of the loveliest parts of England.

Leek Wootton Parish council. I can't find a church website.

What's the difference between a piece of software and a vicar? One is installed and licenced, the other is licenced and installed.

OK, its not funny, but it is peculiar.